Who Is Adam from 'Claim to Fame' Related To?: An Investigation
Step aside Sherlock Holmes! This season, I will be doing my darnedest to figure out the secret identities of the Claim to Fame contestants. The show's premise is simple enough: eleven contestants enter a Hollywood mansion, each is related to a A-list celebrity. The person who can keep their relative's identity a secret for the longest wins!
Related: A 'Claim to Fame' Producer Answers All Our Behind-the-Scenes Questions (Exclusive)
As I'm watching along each week, I'll be attempting to piece together the clues and determine the relative of each contestant, cataloging the information we learn along the way. Spoilers for all episodes that have aired in the main post, plus a separate spoilers section for what internet sleuths have discovered outside the show. Here's everything we have learned about Adam and my predictions:
Who is Adam's Claim to Fame celebrity relative?
ABC
Episode 3 clues
We didn't get much specifically from Adam this week, but there is bound to be one clue hidden in the pair of limericks that were read in the telephone challenge. The bold lines are the ones that we've already connected to a different contestant, ruling those out for Adam.
Limerick #1
On the mountain there once was a lion, (Hud)
In a handsome rose dress she was stylin, (Naomi)
But her dancing was bad, (Dedrick)
And it made the town sad,
So they shipped her right off to the island.
Limerick #2
His toga was in disarray,
On an oddly peculiar Friday, (Miguel)
He wrote a honky tonk song,
But his hair was too long,
And his pompadour needed a spray.
Episode 2 clues
Welp, we didn't get much from Adam this episode other than he's definitely not related to Dustin Hoffman.
It's also possible that one of the following clues from the canoeing challenge relates to his relative: alimony, gemini, maraca, chastity, valkyrie
Episode 1 clues
Two truths and a lie:
My celebrity relative is my: UNCLE (Truth)
My celebrity relative is best known for being an: ACTOR (Lie)
The biggest award my celebrity relative has won: GRAMMY (Truth)
Adam revealed that his relative is a Grammy-winning singer. He also said that the lightning bolt on the clue wall is his relative's clue.
The other contestants' best guess
David Schwimmer
Mackenzie is going around the house telling people she thinks that Adam is related to David Schwimmer due to him playing the giraffe in Madagascar. However, Dedrick confessed that the giraffe in the Episode 2 challenge was his clue, so this is likely wrong.
Parade's prediction for celebrity relative
David Bowie
When you think lightning bolt and singer, David Bowie is obviously the first person who comes to mind, and he seems like he could be the correct age to be Adam's uncle. David Bowie also wore his hair in a pompadour at one point. However, there are lots of other musicians with lightning-related songs, so we'll need some more evidence before we lock this guess in.
INTERNET SPOILERS
While not based on information from the show, sleuths on the internet have, of course, been able to sniff out the identities of most of the cast using Instagram, news articles, old yearbooks, birth records, chatroom gossip, etc. Below is what they've uncovered.
The internet pieced together the fact that Adam is the nephew of balladeer Michael Bolton, based on Adam's own music career. His mother's brother is the famous singer.
Claim to Fame airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
Next, Everything You Need to Know About Claim to Fame Season 3